General Laws of Massachusetts - Chapter 148 Fire Prevention

• Massachusetts General Laws - Definitions - Chapter 148, Section 1
  In this chapter the following words, unless a different meaning is required by the context or is specifically prescribed, shall have the following meanings:— “Department”,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Investigations of fires or explosions by local officials; notice to marshal of suspicious origins or undetermined causes; reports; records - Chapter 148, Section 2
  The head of a fire department in a city, town, or district wherein a fire or explosion has destroyed or damaged property shall investigate the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Notice of unauthorized ignition of fire within public or private schools or on school grounds; submission of report by school principal - Chapter 148, Section 2A
  The principal of any public or private school that provides instruction to pupils in any of grades 1 to 12, inclusive, shall immediately report any...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Investigations by marshal; examination of witnesses; perjury; criminal complaint; prosecutions; reports to commissioner of insurance - Chapter 148, Section 3
  The marshal shall investigate or cause to be investigated the circumstances of all fires or explosions of suspicious origin of which he has notice, and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Persons authorized to enter and inspect premises; inspections of institutions; reports - Chapter 148, Section 4
  The marshal, the head of the fire department, or any person to whom the marshal or the head of the fire department may delegate the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Investigation of premises and alleys as to fire hazards; remedy of conditions; expenses; penalty - Chapter 148, Section 5
  The marshal, the head of the fire department or any person to whom the marshal or the head of the fire department may delegate his...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unvented liquid fired space heaters; use or sale prohibited - Chapter 148, Section 5A
  No person shall use, allow to be used, sell or offer for sale any unvented liquid fired space heater. Whoever violates the provisions of this...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Neglect or refusal of officers to comply with duty - Chapter 148, Section 6
  Any city, town or district officer who wilfully neglects or refuses to comply with any duty or requirement imposed upon him by the preceding sections...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Reports of marshal and commissioner of insurance - Chapter 148, Section 7
  The marshal shall submit annually, before February fifteenth, a detailed report of all official action in relation to fires to the commissioner of insurance, who...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Reports to heads of fire departments, insurance companies, property owners and other interested persons - Chapter 148, Section 8
  The marshal shall report to insurance companies, to owners of property, or to other persons interested in the subject matter of an investigation of the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Regulations relating to explosives and inflammable materials; reports of quantities and locations; ordinances and by-laws - Chapter 148, Section 9
  The board shall make rules and regulations for the keeping, storage, use, manufacture, sale, handling, transportation or other disposition of gunpowder, dynamite, crude petroleum or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Model rocket engines; storage; manufacture; use; sale - Chapter 148, Section 9A
  The board shall make rules and regulations for the keeping, storage, manufacture, sale and use of model rocket engines and for the launching, operation and...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Regulations relative to fire prevention - Chapter 148, Section 10
  The board of fire prevention regulations shall make, and from time to time may alter, amend and repeal, rules and regulations relative to fire prevention...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Heads of fire departments; permits; inspections; records; fees; list of fire department heads - Chapter 148, Section 10A
  The head of the fire department in each city, town or fire district shall grant, in accordance with the rules and regulations of the board,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violation of regulations of board - Chapter 148, Section 10B
  Any person who knowingly violates any rule or regulation made by the board of fire prevention regulations shall, except as otherwise provided, be punished by...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Alteration, repair or installation of oil burners; necessity of certificate; exceptions - Chapter 148, Section 10C
  No person shall alter, repair or install any oil burning equipment or any of the appurtenances thereto, except for electrical wiring and connections, as defined...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Certificate as oil burner technician; minimum age; application; fee; examination; duration of certificate; electrical work - Chapter 148, Section 10D
  Any person who has attained eighteen years of age may make application to the department for a certificate as an oil burner technician. Application for...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Apprentice certificates; fee; duration; expiration; renewal - Chapter 148, Section 10E
  An examiner shall upon payment of a fee, the amount of which shall be determined annually by the commissioner of administration under the provision of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Rules and regulations regarding types and classes of certificates - Chapter 148, Section 10F
  The board may make such reasonable rules and regulations as it deems suitable for the issuance of various types and classes of certificates to cover...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Suspension or revocation of certificates - Chapter 148, Section 10G
  Any certificate may, after due notice and hearing, be suspended or revoked by an examiner for a violation by the certificate holder of any rule...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Firms or corporations; licensing requirements - Chapter 148, Section 10H
  No firm or corporation engaged in the business of altering, repairing or installing oil burning equipment shall be required to hold a certificate as an...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Expert assistants; laboratory - Chapter 148, Section 11
  The marshal may expend the amount annually appropriated for the employment of expert assistance, and also for maintaining a laboratory to aid in the enforcement...
• Massachusetts General Laws - License and permit for manufacture of fireworks; sale, transfer, or exchange of explosive materials; punishment - Chapter 148, Section 12
  No building shall be used for the manufacturing of fireworks or firecrackers without a license from the local licensing authority. No building or structure shall...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Licenses for land for explosives and inflammable materials; certificate of approval; record; certificate of registrations; fees; replacements and alterations of, and regulations for buildings; explosion hazard; appeals to marshal - Chapter 148, Section 13
  No building or other structure shall, except as provided in section fourteen, be used for the keeping, storage, manufacture or sale of any of the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Inflammable fluids in motor vehicles - Chapter 148, Section 14
  Gasoline or any other volatile inflammable fluid which emits a vapor at a temperature below one hundred degrees Fahrenheit when tested in the open air...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Transportation of explosives or inflammable materials; violation of regulations - Chapter 148, Section 15
  Whoever knowingly violates or knowingly causes or permits the violation of any regulation adopted and prescribed for the transportation of gunpowder and other explosives or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Fireworks, explosives and inflammable materials; violations; penalties - Chapter 148, Section 16
  Whoever keeps, stores, uses, manufactures, sells, handles or otherwise disposes of any of the articles mentioned in section nine, in violation of section twelve or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Restraint of erection or use of buildings in violation of statute or regulations - Chapter 148, Section 17
  The supreme judicial or superior court may restrain the erection, occupation or use of a building in violation of section thirteen or of any regulation...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1934, 182, Sec. 2 - Chapter 148, Section 18
  Repealed, 1934, 182, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Bonds for blasting permits; filing fee - Chapter 148, Section 19
  Before the issue of a permit to use an explosive in the blasting of rock or any other substance as prescribed by the department, the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Actions on bonds; employee of permittee; pro rata payment of claims - Chapter 148, Section 20
  Action on a bond filed under the preceding section may be brought by any person to whom loss, damage or injury has resulted by reason...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Bond for blasting operations in more than one place - Chapter 148, Section 20A
  If the applicant for a permit to use an explosive in the blasting of rock or any other substance desires to conduct blasting operations in...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Certificate of competency to conduct blasting operations; application; fee; examination; issuance; duration; expiration; renewal; duplicate; restrictions regarding persons subject to restraining order issued pursuant to chapter 209A - Chapter 148, Section 20B
  No person shall conduct blasting operations unless he holds a certificate of competency issued by the department. Any person desiring to obtain a certificate of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Liability for damages caused by blasting - Chapter 148, Section 20C
  Any person engaged in a blasting operation shall be liable for direct damages to the person or property of another without proof of negligence.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Enforcement of laws and regulations relative to blasting - Chapter 148, Section 21
  The superior court shall have jurisdiction in equity, upon the petition of the commonwealth or of a city or town, to enforce the laws of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Injuries from explosives kept or transported contrary to statutes or regulations - Chapter 148, Section 22
  Whoever suffers injury by the explosion of an explosive which is being kept or transported contrary to the provisions of this chapter or of the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Keeping and use of inflammable fluids; permit; fee - Chapter 148, Section 23
  Except as otherwise provided by rules and regulations of the board of fire prevention regulations, no volatile inflammable fluid except an amount not exceeding one...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Inflammable anti-freeze in hydrants - Chapter 148, Section 23A
  No inflammable fluid shall be used as an anti-freeze mixture in hydrants used to convey water for extinguishing fires.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Keeping and handling of fire menace material; carpenter or paint shop in habitation - Chapter 148, Section 24
  No part of any building used for habitation nor that part of any lot within fifty feet of any building so used shall, except as...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Use of salamanders or stoves for drying materials - Chapter 148, Section 25
  No salamander or stove for drying any construction material shall be used in any building except under such conditions as may be prescribed by the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Second hand space heaters; unvented space heaters - Chapter 148, Section 25A
  No person shall sell, offer for sale or install a secondhand space heater, or a secondhand portable stove which uses kerosene, range oil or number...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unvented liquid fired space heaters; use or sale prohibited - Chapter 148, Section 25B
  No person shall use, allow to be used, sell or offer for sale any unvented liquid fired space heater. As used in this section, “space...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Sale of decorating candles; rules and regulations - Chapter 148, Section 25C
  The board shall make rules and regulations relating to the sale of decorating candles which are designed to reignite after they are apparently extinguished, which...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Manufacture and sale of children’s clothing and sleepwear; rules and regulations - Chapter 148, Section 25D
  The board shall make rules and regulations relating to the manufacture and sale of sleepwear and clothing for children up to and including size fourteen,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Residential gas appliances; sale or installation - Chapter 148, Section 25E
  As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— “Gas appliance”, any furnace, air conditioner,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Installation of automatic equipment on order of marshal - Chapter 148, Section 26
  Any basement of a mercantile establishment, any building used in whole or in part for the business of woodworking, or for the business of manufacturing...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Automatic sprinklers in high rise buildings; enforcement; appeals - Chapter 148, Section 26A
  Every building or structure of more than seventy feet in height above the mean grade shall be protected with an adequate system of automatic sprinklers...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Automatic sprinklers in older high rise buildings; enforcement; installation schedule - Chapter 148, Section 26A1/2
  Every building or structure of more than seventy feet in height above the mean grade and constructed prior to January first, nineteen hundred and seventy-five,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Automatic fire warning and smoke detection systems in certain buildings; enforcement; appeals - Chapter 148, Section 26B
  Every building or structure not exceeding seventy feet in height above the mean grade erected or substantially altered to be occupied for residential purposes shall...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Certain public accommodations; automatic smoke or heat detectors - Chapter 148, Section 26C
  Apartment houses containing six or more dwelling units, hotels, boarding or lodging houses, or family hotels which are not regulated by section twenty-six A or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Definitions applicable to Secs. 26D to 26F - Chapter 148, Section 26D
  As used in this section and sections twenty-six E and twenty-six F the following terms shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Residential buildings or structures; installation of smoke detectors - Chapter 148, Section 26E
  (a) All one and two family dwellings occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes and not regulated by section twenty-six A or twenty-six...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Residential buildings or structures; equipping with smoke detectors upon sale or transfer - Chapter 148, Section 26F
  All buildings or structures occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes and not regulated by sections twenty-six A, twenty-six B or twenty-six C...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Carbon monoxide alarms required in certain residential structures; regulation; inspections; enforcement - Chapter 148, Section 26F1/2
  (a) Every dwelling, building or structure, including those owned or operated by the commonwealth, occupied in whole or in part for residential purposes, that: (1)...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Automatic sprinkler systems required for buildings and structures totaling more than 7,500 gross square feet - Chapter 148, Section 26G
  Every building or structure, including any additions or major alterations thereto, which totals, in the aggregate, more than 7,500 gross square feet in floor area...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Nightclubs, dance halls, discotheques, bars; adequate system of automatic sprinklers - Chapter 148, Section 26G1/2
  For the purpose of this section the term “adequate system of automatic sprinklers” shall include: (1) a working automatic sprinkler system; (2) fire alarm system...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Lodging or boarding houses; automatic sprinkler systems - Chapter 148, Section 26H
  In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, every lodging house or boarding house shall be protected throughout with an adequate...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Multiple dwelling units; new construction; automatic sprinkler systems - Chapter 148, Section 26I
  In a city, town or district which accepts the provisions of this section, any building hereafter constructed or hereafter substantially rehabilitated so as to constitute...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Failure to comply with order of marshal - Chapter 148, Section 27
  Any owner of a building who, within six months after having received an order from the marshal under section twenty-six, fails to comply with the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Shutting off, disconnection, obstruction, removal or destruction, of fire protection devices; permit; report; violation of statute; enforcement - Chapter 148, Section 27A
  Except as hereinafter provided, no person shall shut off, disconnect, obstruct, remove or destroy, or cause or permit to be shut off, disconnected, obstructed, removed...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Piling snow on fire hydrants; penalty - Chapter 148, Section 27B
  No person other than an employee in the service of the commonwealth or any political subdivision thereof or in the service of an independent contractor...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Regulations to prevent fire hazards and fires - Chapter 148, Section 28
  The board shall make such rules and regulations, and the head of the fire department shall make such orders or rules not inconsistent therewith, as...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Reports of violations of building laws - Chapter 148, Section 28A
  The head of the fire department or any person designated by him who, in the performance of his official duties, observes any condition which he...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Buildings with canine guards; reports - Chapter 148, Section 28B
  The board shall by rule require, and the head of the fire department shall make such orders or rules not inconsistent therewith, that any person...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Application of orders to occupant or owner; payment for cost of changes in premises; maximum expenditure - Chapter 148, Section 29
  If buildings or other premises are owned by one person and occupied by another under lease or otherwise, the orders of the marshal or head...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violations; notice and enforcement of orders or regulations - Chapter 148, Section 30
  Violation of any lawful rule, order or regulation of the board or of any lawful order of the marshal or lawful rule or order of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Unlawful tampering, etc. with notice of violation; punishment - Chapter 148, Section 30A
  Whoever unlawfully tampers with, changes, mutilates, destroys, or otherwise removes, from a building or structure, any notice of violation affixed under the provisions of section...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Appeals to marshal - Chapter 148, Section 31
  Any person aggrieved by any act, rule, order or decision of the head of a fire department, or other person or persons acting or purporting...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Sharing information by insurers; liability of insurer or arson squad; confidential information - Chapter 148, Section 32
  The marshal or police or fire department or other appropriate law enforcement agency may request an insurance company to share information relative to an investigation...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Duties and powers of marshal - Chapter 148, Section 33
  The marshal shall study fire hazard and fire prevention and all matters relating thereto, hear suggestions and complaints from all persons and from all cities...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violation of statutes - Chapter 148, Section 34
  Except as otherwise provided, any person violating any provision of this chapter shall be liable to a fine of one hundred dollars, or, in case...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Assembly use group building; dangerous condition - Chapter 148, Section 34A
  (a) Any owner, occupant, lessee or other person having control or supervision of any assembly use group building, as defined by the state building code,...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Serious bodily injury; penalties - Chapter 148, Section 34B
  Any person who wantonly or recklessly violates the state building code or state fire code and thereby causes serious bodily injury or death to any...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Subsequent violations of state building code or state fire code - Chapter 148, Section 34C
  Whoever (1) commits a second or subsequent violation of the state building code or state fire code, including any incorporated specialized codes, or any lawful...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Enforcement of orders of marshall or head of fire department - Chapter 148, Section 34D
  Notwithstanding any other general or special law to the contrary, the housing court, the district court or the superior court shall have jurisdiction and equitable...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 2010, 160, Sec. 3 - Chapter 148, Section 35
  Repealed, 2010, 160, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 2010, 160, Sec. 4 - Chapter 148, Section 36
  Repealed, 2010, 160, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Tanks for storage of fluids; permits; violation of statute or regulation; annual inspection; fees - Chapter 148, Section 37
  No person shall construct, maintain or use any tank or container of more than ten thousand gallons' capacity, for the storage of any fluid other...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Removal and testing of fuel storage tanks; grant programs for municipalities and agencies; powers and duties of administrative review board - Chapter 148, Section 37A
  As used in this section, the term “fuel storage tank” shall mean an underground tank used or designed to be used for the storage of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Grants for removal or replacement of fuel storage tanks - Chapter 148, Section 37B
  Notwithstanding the provisions of section thirty-seven A, grants authorized pursuant to said section thirty-seven A may be awarded for either the removal or replacement of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Regulations relative to tanks - Chapter 148, Section 38
  The board shall make rules and regulations governing the construction, use, and maintenance of tanks to which section thirty-seven applies; governing the removal and relocation...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 2009, 4, Sec. 5 - Chapter 148, Section 38A to 38I
  Repealed, 2009, 4, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Residential property utilizing heating oil tanks; safety requirements; inspection; certification - Chapter 148, Section 38J
  (a) As used in this section, the following words shall, unless the context clearly requires otherwise, have the following meanings:— “Board”, the board of fire...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Sales, possession, use, etc. of combustible or explosive substances to produce visible or audible effects; fireworks; definitions; exceptions; enforcement procedures; penalties - Chapter 148, Section 39
  No person shall sell, or keep or offer for sale, or have in his possession, or under his control, or use, or explode, or cause...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Regulations for permits for displays of fireworks; fees - Chapter 148, Section 39A
  The board shall make rules and regulations for the granting of permits for supervised displays of fireworks by municipalities, fair associations, amusement parks and other...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Storage of fireworks; bonds for manufacture and storage; fee - Chapter 148, Section 40
  No person shall store fireworks in quantities except such as may be permitted by the rules and regulations of the board outside the premises of...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Actions on bonds - Chapter 148, Section 41
  Action on a bond filed under section forty or forty-two may be brought by any person holding a judgment to secure the payment of which...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Displays or exhibits of fireworks; bonds - Chapter 148, Section 42
  No person engaged in the business of displaying or exhibiting fireworks shall, by himself or his agents, discharge, fire off, explode or display fireworks unless...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Actions on bonds; pro rating claims; other remedies - Chapter 148, Section 43
  No action for injury to an employee of a person required to give a bond under section forty or forty-two shall be brought on such...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Firecrackers and pyrotechnical ship or railway signals - Chapter 148, Section 44
  Firecrackers and pyrotechnical ship or railway signals shall be included and classed as fireworks, but the provisions of the four preceding sections shall not apply...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Violation of Secs. 40 to 44 - Chapter 148, Section 45
  Whoever violates any provision of the five preceding sections shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars or by imprisonment...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Inflammable stove polish and foundry paste; regulations; penalties - Chapter 148, Section 46
  No person shall manufacture, store, keep for sale, sell or transport any compound for use as a stove polish containing any liquid or compound whatsoever...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1973, 1028, Sec. 3 - Chapter 148, Section 47
  Repealed, 1973, 1028, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1946, 282 - Chapter 148, Section 48 to 49A
  Repealed, 1946,
• Massachusetts General Laws - Search warrants for explosive, inflammable and combustible substances kept contrary to statutes or regulations - Chapter 148, Section 50
  Upon complaint made to a court or justice authorized to issue warrants in criminal cases that the complainant has probable cause to suspect and does...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Forfeiture of explosive, inflammable and combustible substances; sale or destruction; proceeds - Chapter 148, Section 51
  Articles seized under the preceding section may, after due notice and hearing, be adjudged to be forfeited, and may be ordered to be sold or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Matches kept for sale or use in store - Chapter 148, Section 52
  Whoever keeps matches for sale or use in any store unless the same are in unbroken cases or in a metal or other fireproof receptacle...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Sale of exploding matches, cigars or cigarettes - Chapter 148, Section 52A
  Whoever sells or keeps for sale so-called exploding matches, exploding cigars or exploding cigarettes shall be punished by a fine of not more than one...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Repealed, 1943, 291, Sec. 4 - Chapter 148, Section 53
  Repealed, 1943, 291, Sec.
• Massachusetts General Laws - Lighted cigarettes, etc. likely to cause fire; dropping or throwing from vehicles or placing on forest lands or fields - Chapter 148, Section 54
  Whoever drops or throws from any vehicle while the same is upon a public or private way running along or near forest land or open...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Explosive golf balls - Chapter 148, Section 55
  Whoever manufactures or sells or knowingly uses, or has in possession for the purpose of sale, any golf ball containing any acid, fluid, gas or...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Parking space business; licenses; fees; term; suspension and revocation; unlicensed business - Chapter 148, Section 56
  In any city or town which accepts the provisions of this section, no person shall engage in the business of conducting or maintaining an open-air...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Siding as conductor of electricity; approval - Chapter 148, Section 57
  No side walling or siding which is a conductor of electricity shall be installed on any building unless it is properly grounded and approved by...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Fire extinguishing systems, issuance of certificates for installation and servicing - Chapter 148, Section 58
  The board may make such rules and regulations as it deems suitable for the issuance of various types and classes of certificates for the following:...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Display of street address number on buildings; use in enhanced 911 service - Chapter 148, Section 59
  Every building in the commonwealth, including, but not limited to, dwellings, apartment buildings, condominiums, and business establishments shall have affixed thereto a number representing the...
• Massachusetts General Laws - Novelty lighters; application of section - Chapter 148, Section 60
  (a) For the purposes of this section, “novelty lighter” shall mean a mechanical or electrical device manufactured for the purpose of producing a flame to...

Last modified: September 11, 2015